If Guyana does not see an electoral process that is transparent and representative of the will of the people, then it could very well end up with a dictatorship on its hands. This point was alluded to by Chartered Account and Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran in his recent writings.
In his column which was published by Stabroek News, Goolsarran said, “…The failure to count each ballot cast in an open and transparent manner thwarts the will of the people to elect a government of their choice, and can lead to a tendency towards authoritarianism and eventually dictatorship.” When this happens, the Chartered Accountant said that the highest form of accountability – accountability to the people – is destroyed; and all other forms of accountability collapse around it.
Further to this, the former Auditor General said, “We have witnessed how the electoral process was severely tampered with on four occasions during the period 1968 to 1985, to produce a government that did not represent the will of the people. By 1981, the country had ground to a halt economically and was declared technically bankrupt.”
On this note, Goolsarran asserted that no amount of oil wealth will save Guyana from economic disaster if respect is not shown for the will of the people and their right to elect a government of their choice to manage on their behalf, the affairs of the State.
Furthermore, when one considers all that has played out with the 2020 General and Regional Elections thus far, the transparency advocate said it leaves one to question whether Guyanese are actually witnessing the first sign of the ‘resource curse’.
